What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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leopard99
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

Post by leopard99 »

smelt wrote:..... If only I had 3 phase power in my shop....
The answer is an electronic variable frequency drive. A friend runs a lathe and milling machine in his home wokshop. Both have 3 phase motors and he only has a single phase supply available. The VFD also gives excellent speed control. The only problem might be cost, I don't think a decent VFD comes cheap.
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smelt
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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Yes, either a VFD, or a phase converter. Unfortunately, I have WAY too many interests to spend that much money on one interest, that what would be used a few times a year, building bushings for a race car, or an aluminum bondage yoke, or 12, or maybe a cannon... but you get the point. If I had my dream shop, I would be a few million in the hole, and be paying taxes on a 180x90 buidling. My shop is 16x16..... So the Harbor Freight milling machine, and 10" lathe are in my future. I should be getting my sewing machine tomorrow. If all goes well.
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Gregovic
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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I'd advise against getting a harbor freight milling machine. It's not worth the pain imho. Even a tiny bit more investment can get you a decent machine from a different supplier that is actually set up correctly with decent bearings and good quality electronics. The cheap made in china crate machines are most often junk and will only provide decent work if you put a lot of time into them.
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smelt
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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Ive read a lot of reviews of the HF stuff....used a few Chinese machines here and there... I know what to expect, and not expect from a cheap machine, the best case would be if I came across a used Bridgeport, that had been converted over to 220V already. I've seen a few around. My issue is the lack of room in my shop. I'm hoping that within 3 years, there will be a 32x48 cape-roofed garage landing here...

Back to the sewing machine... I went and looked at it, and asked to see it work. Uh-Oh. She didn't really want to go thru the trouble of threading it. I knew something was wrong. So I told her I wasn't really interested unless I could see it at least sew two layers. She put some thread in, and tried it, then told me she doesn't sew much. Something was wrong with the machine. It was almost like a welder, that won't keep an arc fired. It would stitch, then hiccup and stop. So the hunt continues...
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

Post by OrgasmAlley »

I would strongly steer you to Grizzly over Harbor Freight in the mill department. A blanket condemnation of Chinese crate mills isn't warranted, IMO, as they're basically sound machines, but they do need a fair amount of TLC upfront.
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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OrgasmAlley wrote:I would strongly steer you to Grizzly over Harbor Freight in the mill department. A blanket condemnation of Chinese crate mills isn't warranted, IMO, as they're basically sound machines, but they do need a fair amount of TLC upfront.
I didn't intend it to be a blanket condemnation. Thats why I said most often. But there is also a difference in crate mills and made in china mills that get shipped in a crate. Some brands like HF have no quality assurance and just hand you the crate as it comes in from china. Some suppliers (I think grizzly is one of them) DO have some QA in place and do at least spot check ehat they get in. In any case Grizzly basically gets "first pick" machines while HF will take anything that gets shipped. Steering away from the bottom end of the price range means less headaches in setup and warranty.

Going to a bridgeport might be a tad overkill too. I'd love to have one too but have the same problem. Space is at a premium. On top of that I doubt the foundations of the shed could take the load. Thems got some proper gravity to em :mrgreen:
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smelt
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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I will definitely do some looking around before I get 100% ready to commit to a lathe/mill... It won't necessarily be the HF unit, just something similar in size, and hopefully price. My goal would be to find a used one with a lot of tooling, that someone bought and lost interest. I have quite a few end mills, and some cutting pieces, but not nearly what I would want. In the end, I don't mind doing some work to the machines to make them what I want. The sewing machine seemed like it was going to be easy. I looked at another one a little bit ago, and it had a noisy motor. This is getting frustrating.
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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smelt wrote:Back to the sewing machine... I went and looked at it, and asked to see it work. Uh-Oh. She didn't really want to go thru the trouble of threading it. I knew something was wrong. So I told her I wasn't really interested unless I could see it at least sew two layers. She put some thread in, and tried it, then told me she doesn't sew much. Something was wrong with the machine. It was almost like a welder, that won't keep an arc fired. It would stitch, then hiccup and stop. So the hunt continues...
Sewing machines are a bit finicky - they don't like not being used. If she doesn't sew much, that could happen. Lubricant dries up, or gets clogged with dust and fabric lint, etc.

It could also be that the seller doesn't maintain it - either she has no idea how to maintain it (i.e. never read the manual) or is one of those people that are too scared to touch anything for fear of breaking it (I've seen that a lot).

Then there's the most likely possibility that through erroneous settings or threading, the top thread gets tangled in the bottom one inside the lower arm. That's a bitch to untangle and clean out. And a signal to open up the lower arm and clean out everything and lube the moving parts. Or change the needle which could be crooked.

To me it sounds like a combination of the above, and it would need a buttload of TLC to get it working properly. Not worth the trouble. Much better to get a new one and start off on the right foot from the beginning - that way it's your machine, that you maintain, that you know all its quirks and kinks.

Jenny.
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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bound_jenny wrote:
smelt wrote:Back to the sewing machine... I went and looked at it, and asked to see it work. Uh-Oh. She didn't really want to go thru the trouble of threading it. I knew something was wrong. So I told her I wasn't really interested unless I could see it at least sew two layers. She put some thread in, and tried it, then told me she doesn't sew much. Something was wrong with the machine. It was almost like a welder, that won't keep an arc fired. It would stitch, then hiccup and stop. So the hunt continues...
Sewing machines are a bit finicky - they don't like not being used. If she doesn't sew much, that could happen. Lubricant dries up, or gets clogged with dust and fabric lint, etc.

It could also be that the seller doesn't maintain it - either she has no idea how to maintain it (i.e. never read the manual) or is one of those people that are too scared to touch anything for fear of breaking it (I've seen that a lot).

Then there's the most likely possibility that through erroneous settings or threading, the top thread gets tangled in the bottom one inside the lower arm. That's a bitch to untangle and clean out. And a signal to open up the lower arm and clean out everything and lube the moving parts. Or change the needle which could be crooked.

To me it sounds like a combination of the above, and it would need a buttload of TLC to get it working properly. Not worth the trouble. Much better to get a new one and start off on the right foot from the beginning - that way it's your machine, that you maintain, that you know all its quirks and kinks.

Jenny.
Edit: weird. I could have sworn there was a message here when I hit submit.... I blame the Wifi gnomes and I'll stick to that story.

I agree with Jenny here but will add that I think most second hand machines will need some tune up. Maybe try to find a sewing machine shop in your area that offers repairs and tune-ups? I had my grandmothers machine I got from mother serviced, cost about 60 bucks. But now it purrs like a kitten again. They claim they got it running "as best they could" but so far I havent found anything it doesn't do as intended. When asked what I do with the thing I just talk about some pillows and covers I sewed for others. The other stuff I have planned will never get a mention :wink:
Last edited by Gregovic on 26 Jul 2017, 21:24, edited 1 time in total.
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smelt
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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It's looking like a new, no-frills machine may be the way. Between them selling before I look at them, not working, and no shows on Craigslist.... aaarrrggghhh... My mother offered one of her old machines, but that would mean her wanting to see what I'm up to... hmm.. No. "But, honestly Mom, its a sleeping bag..with sleeves inside, so your arms stay warm" , "That's a leather cold weather hat/ mask/ thing... with a lock, and gag..."

I don't need that conversation right now. I may run in town and grab something today, I need some more "supplies"..

On another note, the thrift store had a roll of super heavy -1/4" or so - brown leather yesterday, roughly 3" wide ( and nice and straight, not wavy!) by 10 or 12 feet long... For $3! I grabbed that...
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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So after looking at a pile of machines, and almost spending a lot of money on an industrial machine that I probably don't really need.... I settled on an old, very heavy-duty machine that I bought off a friend years ago. I had given it to my mother (she restores old household items), but she has so many, it got put in the closet. Til now. It's a Morse, model 600. Looks new, my mother got it out the other night, and tried it out. Almost silent when its running. No problems going thru 4 layers of denim. I watched a similar model sew 10 layers of denim on youtube last night. I don't know a lot about it yet, but it seems VERY powerful, and ruggedly built. They were made by Toyota, back in the 50s and 60s. I need to get it built into my bench, then it's a matter of learning some techniques, and finding all of the oiling points.

My first project will be something simple, I haven't decided what yet. (Add your ideas here!) My goal is to have the skills to make a full body suit by next Jan 1. Like the one from "People Under The Stairs".


And this whole time, I never noticed my mis-spelling of "stitching" in the title. I blame my old computer.
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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smelt wrote:So after looking at a pile of machines, and almost spending a lot of money on an industrial machine that I probably don't really need.... I settled on an old, very heavy-duty machine that I bought off a friend years ago. I had given it to my mother (she restores old household items), but she has so many, it got put in the closet. Til now. It's a Morse, model 600. Looks new, my mother got it out the other night, and tried it out. Almost silent when its running. No problems going thru 4 layers of denim. I watched a similar model sew 10 layers of denim on youtube last night. I don't know a lot about it yet, but it seems VERY powerful, and ruggedly built. They were made by Toyota, back in the 50s and 60s. I need to get it built into my bench, then it's a matter of learning some techniques, and finding all of the oiling points.

My first project will be something simple, I haven't decided what yet. (Add your ideas here!) My goal is to have the skills to make a full body suit by next Jan 1. Like the one from "People Under The Stairs".


And this whole time, I never noticed my mis-spelling of "stitching" in the title. I blame my old computer.
I've never seen one of those for real but looking at some pictures: Damn... That's a beast :shock: . Congrats on the sewing machine. Keep in mind though that working with stretchy fabrics on old machines can be difficult as they don't have the "stretch stiches" usually used for those purposes. I hope you can make it work for what you need. It's certainly sturdy enough to get you some good work done.
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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My thinking right now is that with the total investment of ZERO, I can spend a little money on a newer, lighter duty machine that CAN do spandex.. etc.. I know that I won't be doing 1/4" thick leather with the Morse, but once I have a small assortment of needles, we will give it a quick "limits check". I think it will do everything I need. I hope.
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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I remember my Mom had a Morse way back in the 70s... It was a beast of a sewing machine.

I think you have a winner.
smelt wrote:finding all of the oiling points
If it moves, oil it (i.e anything metal that moves against metal, like bearings, slides, etc). Just keep it away from the thread pathways.

Jenny.
Helplessness is a doorway to the innermost reaches of the soul.
If my corset isn't tight, it just isn't right!
Kink is the spice of life!
Come to the Dark Side - we have cookies!
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smelt
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Re: What sewing machine for kinky stictching?

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Yes, the more research I do, the more I think this is going to work very well. We looked at some different needles last night, next thing is to see what kind of foot plates are available. My mother thinks there are a lot, she said it looks like a standard piece. I will get some pictures of it soon. If it was green, it would look like a military sewing machine, pretty solid unit.

I plan to give it a thorough oiling when I get it here, as quiet as it is now, I can't wait to see what happens then.
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